Re-reading Blair's books

[Schnee]

Originally Posted by UKönig

Every time I finish volume 2, I turn em over and start it all over again.
Although lately I skip the allied portions of the narrative, and read just about the German side. I don't really care that much about allied politics and development of the code cracking computers or how much material traded hands.
Even though I've read the books probably 20 times in 4 years, I still find new things...
In between that, I find time for the novel das boot, and iron coffins.

I have Book I The Hunters within reach when playing SHIII particularly on lengthy patrols post 1941 to the America's.

[UKönig]

I also have a copy of buchheim's photo essay book, "u boat war". Which is the pictographical description of his novel, "das boot". It's interesting to combine the notes from "Hitler's U-boat war", and the pictures taken from the day in question.
I hate how much I love this stuff...

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by UKönig

I also have a copy of buchheim's photo essay book, "u boat war". Which is the pictographical description of his novel, "das boot". It's interesting to combine the notes from "Hitler's U-boat war", and the pictures taken from the day in question.
I hate how much I love this stuff...

I've got that book too. The storm photos are amazing.

[John Pancoast]

Another items I've noticed is the many lost/damaged boats and crews in training in the Baltic.

Very shoddy oversight to have had this continually happen.

[UKönig]

Originally Posted by John Pancoast

Another items I've noticed is the many lost/damaged boats and crews in training in the Baltic.

Very shoddy oversight to have had this continually happen.

Me too.
Very disappointed with the number of new captains in training who got careless when navigating under water.
Most accidents that caused the loss of boat and/or crew was the result of an unknown under water collision, usually with each other.
Sometimes mechanical failure but most times due to negligence, very similar to the number of car crashes that occur in my area, in spite of the warnings.
It got so bad that Doenitz decreed that anyone found so negligent while in command of a U-boat, was to be court martialed with the utmost severity.

[John Pancoast]

All of 1945, BdU orders boat after boat into the shallow waters of St. George's channel, Land's End, etc.

Of course almost all were sunk with the loss all hands.

A u-boat in those shallow waters would have been a crazy idea in 1940 let alone 1945.

[propbeanie]

I'm sorry, but I would have had to have made an egregious navigational error, and missed the shallows by a good bit...

[Randomizer]

Originally Posted by John Pancoast

All of 1945, BdU orders boat after boat into the shallow waters of St. George's channel, Land's End, etc.

Of course almost all were sunk with the loss all hands.

A u-boat in those shallow waters would have been a crazy idea in 1940 let alone 1945.

I would disagree and use desperate rather than crazy. Once boats were equipped with snorkels, finding convoys in the open ocean became virtually impossible since the boat would need to be essentially in the path of the convoy in order to intercept at submerged speeds. The Inshore Campaign was intended to place the boats where the traffic was so they would act as semi-mobile minefields.

The casualties were enormous and arguably it shows the bankruptcy of the entire tonnage-war strategy after spring 1943. Agreed that in 1940 operating inshore would certainly have been crazy due to the requirement to surface for battery charging. In the last year of the war there are no other areas where a Type VII can operate and still expect to sink any merchant ships.

One captain had reasonable success. KL Hartmut Graf von Matuschka in U-482 sank five ships on his first inshore patrol in August-September 1944 but was killed in November. Presumably BdU figured that if U-482 could succeed then the thing was actually possible.

The Inshore Campaign as a bad idea? Sure but when you're out of options, choosing the least-worse course of action becomes acceptable especially from the safety of a headquarters desk located in a bomb-proof shelter.

Just $0.02 CAD.

Stay safe everyone.

- C

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

I'm sorry, but I would have had to have made an egregious navigational error, and missed the shallows by a good bit...

Me too !

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by John Pancoast

All of 1945, BdU orders boat after boat into the shallow waters of St. George's channel, Land's End, etc.

Of course almost all were sunk with the loss all hands.

A u-boat in those shallow waters would have been a crazy idea in 1940 let alone 1945.

https://uboat.net/maps/irish_sea.htm

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by Randomizer

I would disagree and use desperate rather than crazy. Once boats were equipped with snorkels, finding convoys in the open ocean became virtually impossible since the boat would need to be essentially in the path of the convoy in order to intercept at submerged speeds. The Inshore Campaign was intended to place the boats where the traffic was so they would act as semi-mobile minefields.

The casualties were enormous and arguably it shows the bankruptcy of the entire tonnage-war strategy after spring 1943. Agreed that in 1940 operating inshore would certainly have been crazy due to the requirement to surface for battery charging. In the last year of the war there are no other areas where a Type VII can operate and still expect to sink any merchant ships.

One captain had reasonable success. KL Hartmut Graf von Matuschka in U-482 sank five ships on his first inshore patrol in August-September 1944 but was killed in November. Presumably BdU figured that if U-482 could succeed then the thing was actually possible.

The Inshore Campaign as a bad idea? Sure but when you're out of options, choosing the least-worse course of action becomes acceptable especially from the safety of a headquarters desk located in a bomb-proof shelter.

Just $0.02 CAD.

Stay safe everyone.

- C

Nah, it was crazy What a waste.

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

https://uboat.net/maps/irish_sea.htm

Those areas are mentioned too. I was to lazy to list them with anything other than an "etc."